Past Event Coverage

Clean Energy Emphasizing Investment in LNG for Trucks

Clean Energy Fuels (Booth 659) moved the equivalent of 43.7 million gallons of natural gas fuel in the first quarter of 2012, up 23% from 35.5 million gallons delivered in the same period a year ago.

Revenue for the quarter was $73.6 million, up from $65.3 million for the first quarter of 2011.

And while Clean Energy’s net loss for the quarter was $31.9 million, more than triple the net loss for the first three months of 2011, the firm said it’s girding for the future, emphasizing its investment in liquefied natural gas for fuel-thirsty over-the-road trucks: “We are diligently working on building out America’s Natural Gas Highway,” says president and CEO Andrew Littlefair.

The Chesapeake Energy-supported ANGH initiative is to see 70 truck stop LNG stations in place this year, mostly at Pilot Flying J travel centers, and 80 more next year.

“We believe we are approaching an inflection point when these elements all come together, so we are working hard to maximize our lead in the industry and preparing ourselves for anticipated increased volume expansion in 2013 and beyond,” Littlefair said.

Those elements include new engines that are fast bringing truck operators into the fold, notably the 11.9-liter ISL12 G from Cummins Westport (Booth 239). At the recent Mid-America Trucking Show in Kentucky, “Every major OEM, including Navistar, Cummins, Freightliner, Kenworth, Peterbilt and Volvo, all had natural gas offerings strongly featured in their exhibits,” Littlefair said as he and Clean Energy colleagues detailed the firm’s goals in a conference call on May 7.

Littlefair singled out Clean Energy’s new “wet lease” agreement with Navistar International and its dealers, whereby the incremental cost of a natural gas truck is offset and operators still get significant savings as compared to diesel.

Detailing the progress on the LNG trucks stops, “We’re on pace to have our first corridor, the Texas triangle with stations in Dallas, San Antonio and Houston, completed by the end of May,” Littlefair said.

“In the third quarter of this year, we expect to have the Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta corridor, the Chicago to Dallas corridor and the Chicago to Atlanta corridors open. In the fourth quarter, we anticipate opening additional corridors in the Midwest, Southeast and Northeast regions of the country…

“We are on track to have 31 new sites completed by the end of the second quarter and have approximately 70 stations completed by the end of this year.”

“By the end of 2012,” Littlefair said, “our network of completed natural gas stations will allow the movement of goods across the country from coast-to-coast and border-to-border.” The deal with Pilot Flying J to site ANGA stations at existing travel centers “will allow truckers to continue to use their normal fueling locations and provide them the same convenience… to which they are accustomed.”